Potential acoustic habitat partitioning in delphinids along the Florida Atlantic coast

Acoustic signaling is fundamental to delphinid ecology, with echolocation primarily used for foraging, navigation, and predator avoidance, and whistles serving a key role in social communication. Here we investigate possible acoustic habitat partitioning in delphinids along the Florida Atlantic coast by identifying distinct environmental conditions associated with the use of each signal type. Delphinid acoustic signals were detected during a 2-month deployment of a wave glider equipped with a Remora-ST acoustic recorder. Additionally, environmental variables including sound pressure level (SPL), anthropogenic noise, fish presence, location, temperature, current speed and direction, depth, distance to the coast, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration were recorded. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to identify key predictors of whistle and echolocation occurrence. These models were then used to generate predictive maps of suitable habitat for each signal type. Results revealed spatial separation in predicted hotspots: echolocation was concentrated around Cape Canaveral and offshore near a known reef, while whistles were more prevalent near St. Augustine and farther south near St. Lucie inlet. These findings suggest that delphinids may exhibit acoustic habitat partitioning along the Florida Atlantic coast, likely driven by ecological and environmental factors influencing signal function and transmission.